Yakin’s new assistant: Contini could be a hit for the national team

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Giorgio Contini turned 50 on January 4. A wonderful age for a new adventure in life. The Winterthur resident will become Murat Yakin’s new assistant on the Swiss national team staff, which has been official since Thursday. In Germany the mission is called EM. This starts in June.

This means that Contini will not take long to get used to. He must work next to Yakin immediately. The two have known each other for a long time, are good friends and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. In 2011/12 they already worked successfully together in the same line-up at FC Luzern, came second and reached the cup final.

When Yakin subsequently became coach in Basel, he would have liked to take Contini with him, but at the time he wanted to make the step to head coach and left for Vaduz a little later. So now there is talk of a promising reunion. Four points on why this could be a hit.

At first glance, Contini complements Yakin perfectly. He can compensate for Yakin’s shortcomings, especially in communication. Contini speaks German, French, Italian, Spanish and English. This is especially useful for the young French-speaking players in the national team, if they are understood. Contini knows many players personally. For example, in 2019 he brought Dan Ndoye to the first team as coach of Lausanne. The French faction in the Nati will certainly be strengthened by Contini.

Contini is an accessible, open man. When he flew to Carlo Ancelotti last September, he listened attentively to the old master. He was impressed by the Italian’s calmness towards his players, the fact that he talks a lot and with everyone, involves everyone, even asks them for their opinion and allows them to have a say. For Ancelotti, the person is more important than the player. Empathy is also one of Contini’s strengths. This allows him to form the important link between coach and team in the national team.

It is not always easy for an assistant coach to have the necessary authority in the shadow of the boss. Contini is a buddy, he laughs a lot and speaks the language of football players. But when his authority is questioned, he can do something completely different. He has proven this many times during his coaching positions at Vaduz, St. Gallen, Lausanne and GC. Especially in Lausanne and in the WG, where the bosses left him out in the cold, he did not give in and stuck to his position. Contini is much more than a classic assistant and that will also help him to quickly and easily be respected by the established Nati cracks.

As a player, Contini was a fast, smart, dazzling striker who often scored his goals with spectacular performances. With a height of 1.75, he had to acquire different skills to be able to hold his own against the usually larger defenders. Contini, the ex-striker, and Yakin, the ex-defender, complemented each other perfectly on the training field. Perhaps Contini can help the Nati attackers regain more self-confidence and provide tips that will make scoring goals easier and more natural.

Source : Blick